Summary
The prevalence of obesity has increased worldwide in recent decades in both children and adults. Different epidemiologic studies have shown that obesity has become a serious health concern in United States and Canada. It has been proved that obesity has many adverse health outcomes so it is important to identify the different causes of weight gain. It is clear that obesity is a multifactor condition and involves both genetic and environmental elements. In this study, we focus on dietary factors, specifically the consumption of fructose that has increased in parallel to the increase in the obesity rate. The main form of fructose in the diet is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) that is used principally as a sweetener in most beverages and foods in North America. It has been suggested that the intake of fructose may possibly be a contributing factor to the increased incidence of obesity. The objective of this study was to assess if there is a relationship between consumption of fructose and risk of obesity. We worked on two databases. The first database contained 24-hour recall data collected from a sample of 522 Cree adults (263 women and 259 men), divided into two age groups: people between 20 and 40 years old, and people from 40 to 60 years old. We categorized them into four body mass index (BMI) groups. The second database contained data from two 24-hour recalls administered to 550 Inuit adults (301 women and 249 men). These adults were divided into two age groups similar to Cree and with three BMI categories. The amount of fructose per 100 grams of food consumed by these two samples was calculated and we created food composition data for both. We also determined the main sources of fructose in these populations that was sugar sweetened beverages. Based on our results, we could not detect any relationship between consumption of fructose and an increase in BMI among Cree and Inuit adults. We considered energy intake as a potential cofounding factor and, after adjustment, we found that BMI was associated with total energy intake and not with the consumption of fructose. Since in studies that have found this association the level of fructose consumption was more than 50 grams per day but in this study, this level was lower than this limit ( from 20.6 to 45.4 g / day) , we suggest that negative effects of fructose on body weight may appear only at higher dose. Randomized clinical trials and prospective cohort studies using different levels of consumption with long term follow up could be useful.
Key words: Fructose, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), Obesity, and Overweight